First Black Woman On U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team Advances In Games Debut

Maame Biney, the first black woman on the U.S. Olympic speedskating team, advanced Saturday in the 500-meter short-track event with a veteran-like performance in the first round at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Biney finished second in her heat (43.665 seconds), behind Fan Kexin (43.350), but it was her late maneuvering to hold off third-place finisher Kim Alang that sealed her advancement.

Fellow American Lana Gehring failed to qualify.

Biney, who will also compete in the 1,500 meters, told HuffPost before the games that she was looking forward to the food in South Korea ― but now she has a 500-meter quarterfinal on Tuesday to look forward to as well.

“I don’t really feel pressure to be the first to get a medal or anything like that,” Binley said earlier. “I just want to go out there, do my best and have fun, and experience the Olympics. That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to win, obviously, but also have fun.”

Documentaries

With her toothless grin, floppy hat and tell-it-like-it-is persona, Moms Mabley may be one of the most influential comedians you don’t know. She rose to fame in the early decades of the 20th century on the chitlins circuit — the collection of stages around the country that employed black entertainers during segregation — and she would go on to a career that spanned more than 50 years. In that time, she pushed beyond racial and gender barriers, but she drew mainstream attention only starting in the 196os (she died in 1975) and little of her work has survived on film or video. That hasn’t deterred Whoopi Goldberg